By Prince Okwudili Emelumadu
Truth, they say is bitter. But the sweetest part of truth is that it is redemptive. It may be long to come, but at the end of the day, it saves anyone who goes by its norm. This has become pertinent, following the altercations coming out of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the past couple of months. Insight shows that some elements within the party want to sink the party in their ocean of sycophancy, unconcerned about the possible outcome of their activities.
As a careful observer, I have followed the tirades in the party and would be forced to conclude that the kind of enterprise some people are making out of backbiting will only leave the party more charred. And the earlier every member of the great APGA realizes this, the better for all party followers.
Sometime last week, I stumbled on an article written by Comr Harris Chuma, in which he metaphorically used the word ‘erection’ to drive home his point. Highlighting the grand scheming going on in the party, he drew the attention of everyone on the need for the party to close their ranks as we prepare for the guber election which comes up in 2021, about one year away. In his submission, APGA should not go into the election with all these noticeable cracks.
For a discerning mind, this is wise counsel and it is left for the party leaders to find reasons to bridge all the gaps before it is too late. Ostensibly, he also mentioned the efforts of dealers, who believe the party is theirs and therefore reserved the right to regulate how everyone should conform. One ugly trend is that these political dealers did not get to their so-called level of influence on the strength of their grassroot support or their ideologies in delivering governance to our people but on the premise of their tricky ways, gossips and backbiting, where they have turned cameras watching and reporting everyone in the hope that the powers that be will find favour in them. But we know the truth.
These people are those who are afraid of healthy competition, and therefore have devised a means of forging ahead with sycophancy. They are, as far as, I am concerned the real enemies of the party, who are hanging on, waiting for the party to make a mistake before they jump ship, to cause another carnage in another party. They are the people who do not want even the generality of the citizens to benefit from the governance that APGA should be delivering.
If we must face reality, everyone knows that the bond of unity which existed in APGA when it came to power, following the Supreme Court judgment that sacked Sen. Chris Ngige of the then PDP has literally been eroded. While we hit our chest with the sonorous chant of ‘Nkea bu Nke anyi’, available indicators across the state will tend to submit that the average Anambra person does not see the party in that light any more. And the reason is that these dealers in our party have systematically gotten rid of the people who matter most in terms of appealing to the Igbo conscience which in the first place, is the fulcrum of that identity that APGA has built. If I must ask today, where is Lady Bianca Ojukwu?
Well the truth is that the same conspiracy that got rid of such class of people is being deployed to get rid of Comr. Harris Chuma and whoever wakes up to say the truth.
At this juncture I must enjoin Governor Obiano to take the bull by the horn, by treating with dispassionate verve every rancour that has been weighing the party down. Some have raised issues about so many people who worked for the victory of the party being neglected. The governor must look at this and find a middle ground for everyone because it breeds a complex by apportioning different rewards for hard work. The time to bring those whose influence and efforts placed APGA on the threshold of victory in 2017 with the 21/21 formula must be heard out at this time and possibly pacified.
Yes, APGA is the party to beat in the state, but care must be taken to avoid ‘any eventuality’. As it is today, the reins of the only political party that has an insignia of Igbo lies on the shoulders of the governor, and as much as possible, he must not let the burning fire handed over to him to get extinguished before he hands it over. Posterity will not be kind to him.
In essence, we must rally round one another and paper the cracks in our walls of unity and progress. As we get these erections, here and there, let us be sure it will give rise to an acceptable pregnancy and deliver the right baby. Any attempt to kill Comr Harris Chuma’s erection would be termed act of ingratitude considering his profound contribution to the successes recorded by APGA in the last guber election. Now is the time to do justice to the deprived.
